Measure requiring helmet for horse riders fails

Palm Beach County family pushed for law

TALLAHASSEE — It was a tiring, ultimately unsuccessful week in the state capital for a Palm Beach County family seeking to pass a safety law in memory of their deceased 12-year-old daughter.

Nicole Hornstein of The Acreage died in June 2006 after a speeding car frightened her horse. The animal backed into a tree, stumbled and threw Nicole to the pavement. She was not wearing a helmet.

In three lobbying trips to Tallahassee this spring, Nicole's father, mother and sister, who now live in Loxahatchee, pressed lawmakers to adopt the Nicole Hornstein Act, requiring horseback riders younger than 16 to wear a helmet when riding on public land.

"Five or six kids will die if we don't [get the bill passed]," said Gary Hornstein, 45. "And I don't want that on my conscience."

Nicole spent 20 days in a coma before dying.

Helmets can make all the difference in saving riders who are thrown by their mount, her father said.

"They're eight feet up in the air," he said. "And they can slam you down harder than anything you can imagine."

Head injuries are the leading cause of death for people who ride horses or ponies, according to the American Medical Equestrian Association.

The statewide requirement proposed by the Hornsteins is loosely based on a youth-helmet law for riding bicycles, and would mirror city ordinances in the horse-riding communities of Davie, Plantation and Parkland.

The bill was introduced last year, but failed to get a hearing at the Capitol.

This time around, the proposal bearing the late Palm Beach County girl's name was unanimously passed Wednesday by the House, where it was sponsored by state Rep. Shelley Vana, D-Lantana.

But in the Senate, where it was sponsored by Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, it did not get out of its final committee.

By Friday evening, on the last day of the session, the only hope was that the Senate might make a procedural exception and hear the bill at the end of its evening calendar. That didn't happen and by 6 p.m., the family left the building.

"While they're disappointed, they're not deterred," said Richard Pinsky, the Palm Beach County lobbyist who drafted the bill and spent the week arranging meetings between the Hornsteins and lawmakers.

On Thursday, the Hornsteins tried to get an appointment with Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie. It never materialized.

Next, they turned to Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-Palm Beach Gardens, who pledged to take up the issue next year if he couldn't manage to get it heard on the Senate floor this spring.

"It's an experience to see what it takes to make a law," Nicole's mother, Monique, said as the final hours of the 2008 legislative session ticked off.

Gary Hornstein added: "It's their game. I'm just trying to play it for as long as I can."

Tonya Alanez can be reached at tealanez@sun-sentinel .com or 954-356-4542.